Patriots owner Robert Kraft ordered to appear in court on prostitution charges in Florida

By Olivia HitchcockPalm Beach Post

Thursday

Mar 7, 2019 at 11:57 AMMar 7, 2019 at 2:40 PM

The owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots faces two counts of soliciting a prostitute at a Jupiter, Florida, day spa and judge says he must be in court.

WEST PALM BEACH — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will have to appear in Palm Beach County court this month to face two counts of soliciting a prostitute, court records show.

A notice filed Wednesday reads that “the defendant must be present at this hearing,” an arraignment scheduled for March 28.

If Kraft’s attorney doesn’t waive his appearance and he does not attend, Kraft could be arrested on a charge of failing to appear. However, Kraft’s attorney Jack Goldberger said that language is “boilerplate” on notices to appear.

“The lawyer appears for the defendant in a misdemeanor case,” Goldberger explained in an email to the Palm Beach Post. “The defendant does not appear.”

Kraft, 77, is one of 25 men facing charges in the months long investigation into Jupiter’s Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Of the men whose cases have been entered into the county’s online system — 16 including Kraft — all have to appear for their next court hearings, court records show.

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Kraft, a part-time Palm Beach resident, through a spokesperson has adamantly denied the allegations that he twice paid for sex acts at a Jupiter day spa. Court records indicate he has formally entered a plea of not guilty in one of the two cases against him.

The State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about the court proceedings in this investigation.

Police allege that the spa was part of an international human-trafficking and prostitution ring and say they have video of Kraft, former Citigroup operations chief John Havens and 23 other men paying the women at the spa to perform sex acts between Jan. 18 and Jan. 22. The spa’s owner and manager also face charges. State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced that charges had been filed against the men on Feb. 25.

Kraft is alleged to have visited the spa Jan. 19 and Jan. 20, shortly before he flew to Kansas City to see his team play in the AFC Championship game.

Kraft has adamantly denied the allegations in statements through a spokesman. His attorney Jack Goldberg, reached by phone Thursday morning, would not comment on the case beyond reiterating that “he’s innocent.”

Kraft and the other men facing prostitution-related charges most likely will not serve jail time, although they face up to a year in custody.

They most likely will end up doing community service and taking the Prostitution Impact Prevention Education — or PIPE — class, which aims to scare the men who solicit prostitutes, known as “johns,” by educating them on the violence, drugs and diseases that are rampant within the illicit sex business, said program founder Gail Levine.